Mickey Harte gamble with Glen players pays off against Kerry, but just about

Lee Costello

Was it worth the risk?

GAA fans were surprised – but not that surprised – to see Mickey Harte name three Watty Graham Glen players in Derry’s opening match against Kerry just six days after their All-Ireland Club final.

Conor Glass, Ethan Doherty and Ciaran McFaul were all named to start, cutting their winning celebrations short, and it didn’t look like the partying had any effect on them, as Doherty and Glass combined to get the opening score of the game just two minutes in.

With the wind on their backs, Derry were able to get a foothold of the game early on, with Shane McGuigan in particular putting on a clinic in shooting from play and from the dead ball.

Kerry struggled to win their own kick outs, with the Oakleaf county pushing up and limiting the options of Shane Ryan before winning the ball and breaking at pace on the counter.

The evidence of their success in this tactic is clear to see by the variety of the scorers they had, and from all different positions. Conor Doherty, Chrissy McKaigue, Brendan Rogers and Glass all converted before half time.

The Kingdom were overly dependent on Sean O’Shea to get their scores, a burden made extra difficult as both David and Paudie Clifford were absent from the squad, and despite a late surge of attacks in the half, Derry were certainly the happier of the two sides going in.

GOAL! Conor Geaney finds the net for @Kerry_Official – just 1 point between the sides #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/t3IxeRSmqF

— The GAA (@officialgaa) January 27, 2024

The second half started in the same vain with McGuigan scoring more frees and Gareth McKinless adding to their range of shooters, but Harte’s decision to play the Glen players and the risks that come with that, were perhaps demonstrated when McFaul received a black card in the 43rd minute.

The wing half forward attempted to stop Kerry from charging on the break, and it was maybe a sense of fatigue creeping in that caused the away team to play the next 10 minutes with 14 men.

In that time, the home team kicked two points through free kicks from O’Shea, but perhaps more crucially, Jason Foley missed a gilt-edged goal chance, thanks to a brilliant save from Odhran Lynch.

The next kick out was vital as the deficit was cut to three points and with the crowd now at full volume, getting behind Jack O’Connor’s men, it was McGuigan who caught it like a natural midfielder, then going on to kick the next point himself.

GOAL! Dylan Casey levels it! @Kerry_Official #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/pFFJRUDWix

— The GAA (@officialgaa) January 27, 2024

However, disaster struck for the Ulster team when Rogers was dispossessed from behind and Lynch, who was ahead of the ball to join the attack, was caught out of his goal.

Conor Geaney then scored from distance to spark life into this match.

With 10 minutes to go, the game was in the melting pot, and with hot heads everywhere, Declan Cassidy was the coolest man on the pitch, as the youngster from Bellaghy kicked the next score to make it a two-point difference.

No time to let things settle though because Dylan Casey broke with pace and managed to find the back of the net to make things all square, only for McFaul to get a point at the other end immediately after.

Then the impossible happened, as Glass lost his footing, spilling the ball in the process, and very nearly giving a goal away, only for a fantastic save from McKaigue – perhaps another sign of fatigue from Glen’s stars who gave so much just six days ago.

With three minutes of injury time remaining, and the scoreline all square, the game was decided by the element of the match that kept repeating itself; McGuigan scoring a free kick.

In the end, Derry escaped with the win, and the Glen players definitely contributed greatly to that, but there’s no doubt that the club champions were fatigued, and we won’t know just yet what consequences this early return could have on them.

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